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US auto sales near record highs in 2016

FILE - In this Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013, file photo, Chevy trucks line the lot of a dealer in Murrysville, Pa. Demand may be slowing, but U.S. consumers still bought a whole lot of cars and trucks in 2016. U.S. sales of new vehicles could hit a new ...
high in 2016. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
(The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013, file photo, Chevy trucks line the lot of a dealer in Murrysville, Pa. Demand may be slowing, but U.S. consumers still bought a whole lot of cars and trucks in 2016. U.S. sales of new vehicles could hit a new ...
high in 2016. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
(The Associated Press)

DETROIT – Demand may be slowing, but U.S. consumers still bought a whole lot of cars and trucks in 2016.

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U.S. sales of new vehicles could hit a new high in 2016. Consulting firm LMC Automotive and car-buying site Edmunds.com both predict sales will squeak past the record set last year and reach 17.5 million in 2016.

General Motors Co. said its full-year sales were down 1.3 percent to just over 3 million cars and trucks. That was partly because the company cut back on low-profit sales to rental-car firms.

Other automakers report December and full-year sales later Wednesday.

LMC expects sales to be up 1.4 percent in December compared with a year ago, with total sales of just over 1.6 million vehicles. GM's sales were up 10 percent for the month.